Tagum City— She kept her expectations low but deep inside her, bemedalled swimmer Raven Faith Alcoseba knew she would deliver.
In her second stint in the Palarong Pambansa, Alcoseba lived up to expectations when she won gold in the elementary girls’ 100-meter backstroke yesterday here at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex.
The first day of competition actually started on a sour note for the 13-year-old swimmer as she just managed fourth place in the 200-m freestyle contest.
Alcoseba bounced back in the 100-m backstroke, clocking in 1:10.93 as she nearly shattered the nine-year-old record of National Capital Region’s Dorothy Grace Hong, who timed 1:09.65 in the 2006 edition of the annual multi-sporting event.
Behind Alcoseba, a lady archer debuting in Palaro and the ever-dependable badminton elementary teams, the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) came up with a good harvest.
Region 7 won four golds yesterday to hike its record to 5 golds, 2 silvers and 4 bronze medals. Perennial champion NCR started pulling away with 12 golds, nine silvers and three bronzes.
“I didn’t expect too much so that I wouldn’t be disappointed,” said the 13-year-old student of the First Chinese Royal Academy in Talisay City, southern Cebu. “But I felt good going into the competition since it was my favorite event.”
Roland “Andoy” Remolino, Alcoseba’s trainer, said he never doubted the skills of Alcoseba, considering the performance she showed during training at the Cebu City Sports Complex.
“She was in peak form. She even timed 1:09 in one of our practices,” said Andoy.
Prior to the final heat, Andoy said Alcoseba caught the attention of a swimming coach from NCR.
“The coach told me ‘your swimmer is fast but our swimmers are faster’,” said Andoy.
Alcoseba proved them wrong.
“I really wanted to win since I didn’t win a medal in last year’s Palaro and it is my final year as an elementary athlete,” Alcoseba said.
Archer Nicole Marie Tagle, meanwhile, had a smashing debut in Palaro after she topped the tightly contested secondary girls’ 30-meter contest.
Tagle wound up with 339 points followed by Cordillera Administrative Region’s Loren Chloe Baloang, who finished with 327. Region 1’s Angelica Aldea came in third with 326.
Tagle shifted to archery just last July from practical shooting.
“I didn’t regret shifting to archery, especially with this win that was made more special since it is my first time in Palaro,” said Tagle, a student at the Silliman University in Dumaguete City.
CVIRAA SMASHERS STILL THE BEST
Chipping in golds yesterday were the vaunted elementary badminton teams of coach Eddie Estoconing but the victories didn’t come handily.
In the boys’ event, Lyrden Laborte whipped his counterpart from Region 4-A, 21-14, 21-16. Allen Penute and Jef Angelo Guangco faltered in the doubles 16-21, 8-21, sending the contest to a deciding second singles. Neil John Navarette saved the day for Region 7 when he topped the second singles, 16-21, 22-20, 21-19 and sealed Region 7’s fourth straight championship in the event.
The girls’ event was also a close one.
Zinah Marichelle Bejasa first topped her Region 4-A counterpart, 21-16, 21-13, but Anne Satera and Karyll Rio surrendered the doubles event, 91-21, 13-21. Coming to the rescue was Chelsea Katrina Akiatan, who triumphed in the second singles, 21-15, 21-14.
“I felt nervous since it was a make-or-break situation. I just followed coach’s instruction to stay focused and calm,” said Akiatan.
The championship match in the team event of the secondary tennis between Cviraa and Region 11 was still being played as of this writing.